chem txtbooks? (1 Viewer)

[**freakstar87**]

what are the advantages and disadvantages in context, conq chem, excel and pathways? and also, is it resourceful to buy more than two textbooks? because i can't afford that much!!

 

[**freakstar87**]

by the way, i'm doing the yr 11 course soon.

 

[KeypadSDM]

I can only think of a few disadvantages with the Conq Chem. It had errors. I was docked marks at school simply because I wrote exactly what the book said.

BEWARE - Equivalence point and end point. THEY ARE DIFFERENT! (In the textbook they say they are the same)

Apart from that it had great definitions which were quite useful to memorise.

 

[Misturi]

Excel is good because it gets right down to what you need to know.

I bought another textbook as well as conq chem and l used questions from there etc.

Also, please, PLEASE follow the syllabus and answer every dot point completely.

 

[:: ck ::]

i found excel pretty shit i dunno about you ppl...

pathways is good.. just hard to understand at times
contexts is to the point ... doesn get all fancy
conq probably the best

 

[Misturi]

Originally posted by :: ryan.cck ::
pathways is good.. just hard to understand at times
contexts is to the point ... doesn get all fancy
conq probably the best

thats the one by macmillan right?

I had that one as well...good textbook..shame l didn't use it much

 

[:: ck ::]

thats the one by macmillan right?

yup sure is

I had that one as well...good textbook..shame l didn't use it much

it takes time to go thru each page coz theres quite a bit of irrelevant shit in there which is why i didn use it as much as i'd liked to either

 

[Misturi]

I just bought it from the bookstore because it looked like it had good stuff in it. I took it home and used it about 20 times.

 

[iambored]

Originally posted by **freakstar87**
what are the advantages and disadvantages in context, conq chem, excel and pathways? and also, is it resourceful to buy more than two textbooks? because i can't afford that much!!

excel (NOT the in a month, the other one) is a piece of crap. it's too detailed in some sections, no info in others, and i can't understand it.

excel in a month is a bit brief, good for main points but that's all

pathways i have never used

conquering - good,

contexts - good, fixes what conq misses.

2 will be fine. i only got 2 conq and cont, and they were great together. otherwise borrow one from the library and photocopy the necessary pages

 

[Misturi]

Oh for the excel l mentioned, l meant the month one..sorry l didn't know you were talking about the big one

 

[Constip8edSkunk]

just use as many text books(read:borrow /buy) as you can to create a pastiche configured to fit the syllabus. also just note that there are many discrepancies among the various textbooks and should prolly needs to be confirmed, so you dont cram some thing thats wrong just cus the writer was lazy.

i found:
excel - crap... everything covererd by other books and has quite a few errors

macmillan pathways - lotsa info, many that are not in any other text books. drawback: many also outside the syllabus

conquering: concise, follows the syllabus the best. a bit brief however on the 2nd collum dot pts, and leaves out most of the 3rd collum pts. useful summary

contexts: sort of a mixture of macmillan and conq. leaves out swathes of syllabus and includes many out of syllabus info. it is useful none the less as a secondary supplement to either conc. or macmillan.

surfing: some very nice summaries as well as covering many of the more obscure dot pts that the major text books skim over.

in the end it's all about the bloody syllabus and the wordings....

 

[Numero Uno]

Originally posted by Misturi
Excel is good because it gets right down to what you need to know.

I bought another textbook as well as conq chem and l used questions from there etc.

Also, please, PLEASE follow the syllabus and answer every dot point completely.

i have excel

wut u mean by following the dot points ??
im lost

 

[Constip8edSkunk]

the syllabus dot points that the hsc course can assess you on. you can get them from the board of studies' site

 

[Numero Uno]

Originally posted by Constip8edSkunk
the syllabus dot points that the hsc course can assess you on. you can get them from the board of studies' site

Oh ok Thanks ..

do you know the site ?

 

[Xayma]

Originally posted by Numero Uno
do you know the site ?

http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/index.html

 

[Misturi]

Originally posted by Numero Uno
i have excel

wut u mean by following the dot points ??
im lost

As mentioned by Skunk, they are points that the hsc can assess you on. They are also the things you should know (very well) by the end of the HSC course for your exam. My advice would be to look at them breifly before you start the module, work on them during the module and make sure you know them and understand what they are asking by the end of the module.

If there are any you don't understand or have trouble finding information on, please ask here at any time or for quick help ask your teacher.

 

[Xayma]

For your summaries its also good to answer the dot points in your summary book as if it was a HSC question, since the HSC science is basically reguritating the info you just have to read over your summaries. Plus it gets it put in your long term memory.

 

[Misturi]

Oh and make your you use scientific language and third person.

When you get into that habbit, it will be a natural thing when it comes to the exam.

 

[Numero Uno]

Ok Thanks Alot Guys

I checked the Dot point summaries and they are all featured in my excel book. At the beginning of every new topic . is that what ur talking about ?

 

[Suvat]

Excel: one of the worst books I have ever bought
Excel in a month: Nice summary
Pathways: Too much BS
Conq Chem: Rescued my entire HSC, I bought it 3 days before my year 12 half yearly exams (did VERY little work in chem beforehand) and topped it (sry phenol, I know you deserved it more ) it's just soooo good